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Free food and beer are common perks for hospitality workers – but are they masking unfairness?
Magazine article   Open access

Free food and beer are common perks for hospitality workers – but are they masking unfairness?

Olivier Oren, Richard N S Robinson and Tyler Riordan
The Conversation, Vol.13 May 2025
2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64628/AA.ftgthrpmw
Appears in  The Conversation
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Abstract

Tourism and Hospitality workforce Perks Entitlements Precarity work wages hospitality restaurants hotels cafes hospitality sector
For cafe and restaurant workers, getting a free drink or meal at the end of a long shift might feel like a well-deserved reward. But could such perks – common across the industry – be masking deeper issues? Informal workplace perks have long been a big part of Australian hospitality’s culture. It’s common for restaurants and cafes to provide a free on-shift meal or heavily discounted menu items for their employees. In some bars and pubs, an end-of-shift alcoholic drink is a well-appreciated tradition. Less well understood is the question of how these widespread perks are interacting with workers’ legal rights. To investigate, we surveyed 383 Australian hospitality workers. Participants worked across cafes, bars, and hotels (both in large franchises and small businesses) across Australia, with roles such as chefs, bartenders, guest experience attendants, waiting staff, managers and baristas. We asked them about their employment contracts, their access to legal entitlements like breaks and overtime, and any extra perks they received. We also invited them to share, in their own words, what would make work fairer. The results paint a troubling picture.

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